Otter Birthday

Hi and welcome!  Today's card was made using my NBUS Otterly Love set by MFT Stamps.

I sponged distress inks onto a panel of Bristol Smooth cardstock and spritzed with water before setting aside to dry.  Once it was dry, I stamped the waves using white pigment ink, which you can hardly see in the photos!  The otters were stamped, colored and die-cut.  I also went over them with a piece of towel wet with colorless blender to give a bit of texture and followed that up by adding dots of color on the darkest parts using the E43 marker.

The card front was assembled using a strip of patterned paper, a white embossed sentiment and a negative circle die-cut.  All of which were popped up on foam tape.

Thanks for visiting!  I'm linking this up to MFT's sketch challenge, Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes and CAS on Sunday's critters challenge.

Cheers
Karren

Brighter Day

Hi and welcome!  Today's challenge at Just Add Ink is to Just Add Ombre - an easy one for me because I love ombre!

I was actually tempted to use the card I posted yesterday for this challenge, but as I'd already watermarked it, I decided to go ahead and make another, but use the same sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.

I had this panel already sponged and water-flicked, waiting for an opportunity to use it, so this card came together quite quickly.  I stenciled over the top with Mermaid Lagoon ink and the stencil that came with the My Monthly Hero February kit.  I then colored and die-cut the little elephant from the Fun in the Rain set and added the sentiment.  I added some clear sparkle pen to the umbrella and some clear droplets and my card was done.  Both the ombre panel and the elephant are popped up on foam tape.

Head on over to check out the ombre cards made by the rest of the design team - you'll be glad you did!  

I'm linking this up to the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp and the stencils challenge at 4 Crafty Chicks.

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at 4 Crafty Chicks

Birthday Girl

Welcome to another sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.  This week our hostess is the wonderful and talented Amy O'Neill.  Her sketch involves one of my favorite elements - vertical panels.  Check it out:

My card involves three of my favorite techniques - ink-blending, stenciling and Copic coloring, so as you can imagine, I really enjoyed making this.  I did film it, but something went awry and iMovie couldn't recognise the video.  Grrr! 

I sponged Distress inks onto a panel of Bristol Smooth and then went over the top with a stencil, using the same inks.  I cut the panel into strips, using two down either side of the card base and the third I used to die-cut the sentiment, which I set aside.

I stamped and colored the girl and used some clear sparkle pen on her grass skirt. After adhering the two ombre panels down the sides of a top-folding card, I die-cut the same sentiment from a panel of white cardstock and then inlaid the "Sending" word back into the gap, before stamping the rest of the sentiment underneath.  That panel was popped up on foam tape onto the card base and the girl was adhered with liquid glue.

And that's my card!  Head on over to the FMS blog to check out the fabulous creations made by the rest of the design team.  I'm linking this up to Seize the Birthday's Inlaid Die-Cut challenge and the Cardz for Teenz challenge at Cardz for Galz.

Cheers

Karren

Still The One

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another Fusion challenge and we've gone for a soft pastel look and a simple sketch.

I went with the inspiration photo this time, concentrating on the pink shades and the hearts.

I used a NBUS die from Poppy Stamps and some distress ink blending onto a strip of Bristol Smooth cardstock. which was spritzed with a Perfect Pearls mist before being adhered behind the heart cut-outs.  The sentiment comes from Taylored Expressions and I finished the card with some clear droplets.

I shot a video while I was making this and then forgot to edit it, so I did a rush edit job tonight and left in my mental block in the voiceover to give you a giggle!  You can watch the video over on YouTube or watch it here.

I'm linking this card up to the Romance challenge at CASology and the Clean and Simple challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CASology.

Hugs

Hi, I'm back with a card for the reminder post at The Flower Challenge and, if you recall, this month we are caseing the fabulous Therese Calvird and here is her card:

When I first saw Therese's card, my jaw dropped and I wondered how on earth I could do justice to it - not once, but twice.  Once for the initial challenge post and once for the reminder post.  Well, here's my second card where I was once again inspired by the pinks, the layout and this time I also added some ombre.

I stamped the NBUS floral image onto watercolor card and white embossed it.  I then colored it with Zigs.  I actually completely ruined the first attempt by putting a grey wash all around the image, so I salvaged the flowers and buds by fussy-cutting them and then re-stamped and embossed the image onto another panel.  The flowers and buds were then adhered over the top.  This time I used a couple of grey Copic markers to provide a bit of subtle shading.

The sentiment was cut from a panel that I'd loosely colored some pink Zigs onto and adhered to the card base.

Thanks for visiting!  Head on over to the challenge blog and check out what the rest of the DT have come up with and huge thanks to Therese for joining us this month.

Products used:

Stamps:  Divine (Penny Black)

Ink:  Versamark

Cardstock:  White, watercolor

Dies:  Big Hugs (MFT)

Accessories:  Copic Cool Greys, Zig Clean Color Markers

Cheers

Karren

Birthday Foliage

It's time for another fabulous sketch from the team at Freshly Made Sketches and this week our hostess is the wonderful and funny Narelle.  And she has such a versatile sketch for us.

When I made my card, I wasn't in the mood for the stamping part of this craft, so I worked mainly with dies and washi tape to come up with this masculine birthday card.

I am one of those people who is in awe of crafters who can put different elements together to create a collage but it never looks right when I try to do it.  I spent so long working with different dies and patterns but ended up paring it all back to a very simple design.  I knew I wanted to use the Precious Polaroids die but deciding what to put in it was a challenge.  Finally, I used some gray foliage die-cuts and called it a day.  The washi tape was adhered to a white card base and I stamped a sentiment onto the slate polaroid frame and then adhered the leaves in place.

Thanks so much for visiting!  The design team have some gorgeous cards using Narelle's sketch so head on over and check them out.

I'm linking this card up to the Clean and Simple challenge at Addicted to Stamps & More, the Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes With Dies challenge, as well as the masculine challenge at Sweet Stampin'

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at Happy Little Stampers.

Super Thanks

Hi!  Today's card was made using the colors from Color Throwdown, the sketch at MFT Stamps and the Hero theme at CASology.

I stamped and colored the girl using Copics and the CTD colors before die-cutting her with the matching die.  I colored all the orange elements with Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen and set her aside.

For the frame as per the sketch, I die-cut two pierced rectangle frames - one in black and one in Hawaiian Shores and adhered them together offsetting the aqua one slightly.  As well as providing some added interest, this also beefs up the size of the frame to more match the sketch.

Finally the sentiment was white embossed and cut out.  The top left corner was rounded with a Corner Chomper.  The girl was adhered with foam tape and my card was done.

Thanks so much for visiting.  I really appreciate the time you take to visit me here.

Cheers

Karren

Edited to Add:  This card got a shout out at CASology and Color Throwdown.

Hello Lovely

Hi and welcome!  This week is my turn to host over at Inspired By All the Little Things and here is the inspiration photo I've chosen:

There is so much to be inspired by in this photo, and I knew the perfect guest to make a card based on these elements - the one-and-only Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone.  Michele is one of the friendliest people in this wonderful little community of ours and I'm glad to know her.

For my card, I was inspired by the black and white pattern as well as the bright flowers and the silver elements.

I used some flowers and foliage stamped from a SugarPea Designs set and the sentiment from a NBUS set from Concord & 9th.  I stenciled black ink onto a card panel and then arranged the arrangement of flowers in the bottom left corner.  The sentiment was both stamped in black and embossed in silver and I also added some silver-embossed splatters across the panel.

I have a video showing how I made this card if you're interested.  Click here to head over to YouTube or watch below.

Thanks for visiting.  Michele and the design team have some gorgeous cards so please check them out.

Hearts and Flowers

Hi and welcome!  It's time for another challenge from the fabulous team at Just Add Ink and this week, we have a Just Choose Two challenge.  Your choices are:

I went with Hearts and Flowers and coincidentally, I have a new set of dies called Caprice Hearts that have both hearts and flowers.  Score!

This is the card I made for my mum for her upcoming birthday.  I actually gave it to her last weekend so she had it before she saw it on my blog 😉  I die-cut the hearts with three shades of SU cardstock and adhered them together before spritzing with Perfect Pearls mist.  I adhered a strip of some really pretty patterned paper down the left hand side under the heart and edged it with a scalloped strip.  The sentiment was stamped and die-cut and the die-cut "love" was also spritzed with Perfect Pearls.

Thanks for visiting!  The design team have some wonderful cards, just choosing two, so please check them out.

I'm linking this up to Seize the Birthday's Linky Party.

Cheers
Karren